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The Clippers are in Deep Trouble Without Blake Griffin

Today, Blake Griffin underwent elbow surgery and will be out for four to six weeks. This comes at the worst time for the Los Angeles Clippers. Currently the Clippers are on a two game losing streak, three of their previous four against the Western Conference before losing to the Thunder last night. This puts the team at a higher risk of missing the playoffs.

Los Angeles might be sixth in the Western Conference, but San Antonio is a 0.5 game down, Phoenix sitting in eighth place and New Orleans, as well as Oklahoma City are outside looking in.

Looking at the upcoming schedule, they play Dallas tonight, Houston, San Antonio after the All-Star break, Memphis, Houston (on the road), Memphis (on the road), Chicago and Minnesota. That’s quite a murderers row schedule to say the very least.

As you would expect, the Clippers are not dangerous without Griffin. The Clippers are a 100.3 offensive unit when Griffin is not on the court compared to a 114 rating when is on the court. He also plays a key role in DeAndre Jordan’s offensive game as he has many assists to Jordan’s buckets as Chris Paul does.

With Griffin not playing, the Clippers have that lack of depth on the frontcourt and that depth was weakened as Glen Davis left the game last night with a back injury. The injury might not be serious but with a healthy Davis would be what this team needs.

We don’t know if Griffin will miss more time, but his absence leaves a void that the Clippers will struggle. And with a Western Conference that’s deep, one bad stretch could easily leave this team out of the postseason.